


Die A King Than Live A Coward

by Midnightdragon2



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 16:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17531843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightdragon2/pseuds/Midnightdragon2
Summary: Metal clashed outside the door, people shouted, the sounds of soldiers screaming, then suddenly being cut off as they were killed quickly and without remorse or mercy. They were coming for him. Harrow knew they were. The moonshadow assassins.





	Die A King Than Live A Coward

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry for this, you know I had to do this.

Metal clashed outside the door, people shouted, the sounds of soldiers screaming, then suddenly being cut off as they were killed quickly and without remorse or mercy. They were coming for him. Harrow knew they were. The moonshadow assassins.

Half of him wanted to go out there, to fight with the soldiers who were defending his life, to die alongside them out there than be in here, waiting for when the Moonshadow elves inevitably broke through the door. People always said his dark humor would come to bite him in the ass later, but he had never figured that when he jokingly said "I'd rather have assassins come and stab me through the heart than do X." that it would have come true as it was now.

He almost did it. He almost walked out that door and fought the assassin's head on, and likely died there. Instead, if only by determination alone, he stood near the door to the balcony, 

The guards who had been on the balcony now watched the door, crossbows ready to fire if....  _when_  the assassins broke through the guards outside. As soon as they came for Harrow. For his life. They would likely all die before the elves even got close to Harrow. Viren's words, of how countless would die for Harrow, rang in the king's ears. So many would die... And the fault was Harrows. 

Harrow had much to regret in his life, much to atone for, but turning down Viren's suggestion was not something Harrow did, or ever would, regret. The soulfang idea was a plan for a coward. If Harrow died on this night, he would do it whilst staring death in the face. Even if it meant leaving Ezran and Callum behind. 

He pushed away the thought before it overtook him. He didn't want to think of the two right now. Amaya would take care of them, he assured himself, and Callum had the letter. Ezran would make a great king when he got older. Even if Harrow wouldn't be around to see it, he knew inside his heart that Ezran would follow his. 

The door opened with a loud boom. Harrow made Pip fly off his shoulder and leave. Crossbow bolts flew at the door as three assassins entered, nearly invisible but for the hair, the glow of their eyes and the color of their markings. Each dodged the crossbow bolts with inhuman speed, dividing in a flash. Harrow barely saw them as one attacked three men with a staff as tall as Harrow himself. The second assassin attacked the other two.

Harrow had no clue where the other was. He would've died if not for the glint of metal above him catching his attention. He raised his sword just in time to block the twin blades of the third assassin. 

The moonshadow elf snarled and retreated before attacking again with one sword first, then swinging the other at Harrow's feet. Harrow managed to block the first and dodged the second, but he gave ground he very much needed. 

The assassin's attacks rose in ferocity, power, and speed, until Harrow could only see a flash before he was attacked again. It was by luck alone that he managed to block both swords with the armor and cut of part of the elf's left horn with his own sword. Even ten, the assassin didn't back down and continued to attack. He knew he couldn't keep up the fight for long. He took another step back, barely moving his sword in the way of the elf's as the assassin went for the chest. He looked behind him, at the balcony only a few feet away. Movement caught his eye, in the middle of the court. He gasped at what he saw, eyes widening. 

At the gate ran three children, one an elf like the one he was being attacked by, two were Callum and Ezran. In Ezran's arms he held what was no doubt a glowing egg. Harrow froze at the sight, his sword falling. He knew full well what that egg was. Who is was. He had thought it destroyed by Viren's doing, but Ezran had it.

He could fix what Harrow had done.

Harrow cursed when the assassin's sword made it's way towards him and he blocked, only to have his own sword taken from his hands as the second sword came into action. He retreated away from the balcony, stepping over the body of one of the assassins who had fallen, a female with long hair, then over a guard. He gave no thought to when the elves and men had died, or who had been wounded fatally first and who had taken the other one with their final breaths. All he could focus on was his current attacker 

He knew he had lost. He was weaponless now, with no one or thing to defend him. Still, he stood tall, ready to fight until the elf's blade pierced his body. He wouldn't cower. He would die like king.

The assassin kicked him back, Harrow felt the force of it and all but flew into the wall behind him. The back of his head hit the wall hard, Harrow grunted at the sudden impact, then dropped as the room began revolving around him. He looked up with a snarl as the elf's blade was placed at his throat. The elf's appearance changed, then. From the near invisible appearance with glowing eyes to a dark almost purple shade of skin and normal eyes. His markings turned from teal to blue. He glared at the other, trying not to swallow else the blade pierce his skin. 

The assassin looked down with a similar glare. "Any last words?" The elf asked with an accent that was no doubt Xadian, lifting the blade of the sword so it touched beneath Harrow's chin. Harrow felt the sting of the razor edge but didn't fear it. 

He knew death was upon him, yet he felt... calm. "What is done is my fault." He let his gaze soften. "Don't make my son pay for what I have done." He looked out to the balcony, a small smile on his lips, then met the assassin's eyes again and added "Either of them." 

The assassin froze, then frowned and drew his blade back just a fraction. "A king for a king." was the quiet, determined response he received.

Harrow let his eyes slide closed, accepting that he would die here, with his sons out there, fixing his mistakes. 

He heard the sound of metal whistling through the air, then felt a sharp pain in his neck.

Then nothing


End file.
